History Main / LongingForFictionland

* ComicBook/JohnConstantine invites some of his muggle friends get to visit [[AllMythsAreTrue Fiddler's Green]] for a day and one couple gets into trouble when they conspire with an unhappy resident to stay there permanently. They eventually get back to the real world safely but become severely depressed and addicted to drugs and alcohol because they were banned from Fiddler's Green so hard they can't even ''dream'' of it.

* An Wiki/SCPFoundation researcher working on an SCP that produced an extensive fantasy world in the sleeping user committed suicide on waking up. Having spent 200 years inside, he just couldn't return to real life. In a subversion of the usual Foundation-contained EldritchAbomination, the entity of the fantasy-making book had a ''massive'' MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment, and went into such a debilitating HeroicBSOD that it refused to even communicate for ''weeks''. When it finally "wrote" something on the pages, [[TearJerker all it could say was]] "[[WellIntentionedExtremist I'm so sorry. I never intended for this to happen. I just wanted to make people happy...]]" ''[[TearJerker on every single page, while the book was soaked with tears]]''.
* In middle of his BreakTheCutie, Donnie from WebVideo/DemoReel has an TearJerker rant over how real life is not a movie and even though you can try your best to not make movie mistakes, you can still fail. This leads to missing his [[spoiler: dead]] mother and almost committing suicide to be with her again.

* Quite a few people would like to go to Equestria from ''MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', and some would be more than willing to stay there permanently and give up their humanity in the process. The "Human in Equestria" fan-fiction genre is both popular and reviled for this reason [[GenderBender and]] [[GodModeSue others]]. Some (such as [[https://www.ponychan.net/arch/res/16458.html this guy here]]) go far enough that they hope that Equestria is the afterlife, or at least that the afterlife involves ponies.
* A lot of hardcore Creator/{{Disney}} fans have a similar mindset to the above, which isn't surprising given [[Creator/WaltDisney Walt Disney's]] stated goal of trying to reach the inner "innocence" of audiences. This can be particularly tear-jerking when it comes to children. In fact, over 40% of wishes granted to heavily ill kids by the Make-a-Wish foundation [[https://tipsforfamilytrips.com/florida/disney-world-make-a-wish/ are Disney related]]. When it comes to struggling children (and adults) who dream about living in {{WesternAnimation/Zootopia}}, hanging out with [[WesternAnimation/ToyStory Buzz, Woody, and the gang]], exploring the [[Franchise/WinnieThePooh Hundred-Acre Wood]], and the like after their troubles are finally over, it's hard to say 'no' to them.

* ''Film/DrWaiAndTheScriptureWithNoWords'': The main character, Chow, is an author struggling with WritersBlock trying to envision the story for his fictional creation, Dr. Wai the adventurer. As he writes, Chow daydreams himself as Dr. Wai and his globe-trotting adventures, but the harsh realities in life drags Chow back to the real world.

* A lot of hardcore Creator/{{Disney}} fans have a similar mindset to the above, which isn't surprising given [[Creator/WaltDisney Walt Disney's]] stated goal of trying to reach the inner "innocence" of audiences. This can be particularly tear-jerking when it comes to children. In fact, over 40% of wishes granted to heavily ill kids by the Make-a-Wish foundation [[https://tipsforfamilytrips.com/florida/disney-world-make-a-wish/ are Disney related]]. When it comes to struggling children (and adults) who dream about living in {{Disney/Zootopia}}, hanging out with [[WesternAnimation/ToyStory Buzz, Woody, and the gang]], exploring the [[Franchise/WinnieThePooh Hundred-Acre Wood]], and the like after their troubles are finally over, it's hard to say 'no' to them.

* The infamous "[[Franchise/{{Digimon}} Project Digiclipse]]" from the early to mid-2000s. What started out as just a bunch of kids having fun with roleplaying about Digimon in the real world got out of hand quickly, as some people [[PoesLaw either genuinely believed that Digimon was real and believed in the site's mission of one day reaching the Digital world]] or [[{{Troll}} signed up to troll the people who did]][[note]][[PoesLaw only to then end up having people mistake their post as legitimate]][[/note]] began to join the site in mass. ''Then'' the goons at ''Website/SomethingAweful'' caught wind of it and [[{{GIFT}} it proceeded to get out of hand from there.]] Although some people [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbhOjtFFdFI briefly mistook it as an actual cult]], nowadays it's generally agreed on that it was just a bunch of kids wanting to have some fun roleplaying only for it to snowball horrendously out of control.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': Implied to be the case with Luz before arriving in the Boiling Isles. She remarks that it's clearly not the PG fantasy world she's dreamed of.

* ComicBook/{{Constantine}} invites some of his muggle friends get to visit [[AllMythsAreTrue Fiddler's Green]] for a day and one couple gets into trouble when they conspire with an unhappy resident to stay there permanently. They eventually get back to the real world safely but become severely depressed and addicted to drugs and alcohol because they were banned from Fiddler's Green so hard they can't even ''dream'' of it.

* ''Film/BridgeToTerabithia'': The main two characters create a fictional world called Terabithia to deal with their school troubles. They are aware that it is a fantasy and wish it were real, although this doesn't stop them from having fun.

* Quentin Coldwater in ''Literature/TheMagicians'' dreams of traveling to the land of Fillory, from the ''Fillory and Further'' series by Christopher Plover (essentially an {{Expy}} of ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'' and C.S. Lewis with a dash of ''Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland''). [[spoiler: Eventually, he succeeds - though it's quite unlike what he imagined.]]
* Milo in Norman Juster's ''Literature/ThePhantomTollbooth'' inverts this, although he states he might go back to visit, when he finds the time.
* In ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'' the Pevensies appear to do this. Actually the land they're longing for is very real, and they ruled there for fifteen years.

* Literature/JetlagTravelGuides essentially do the opposite

* Jean in ''VideoGame/WeaponsShopDeOmasse'', despite being in a stock JRPG setting, acts like a {{Sentai}} hero. He takes his weapons and uses them to beat up children in the park he calls his 'secret base', in encounters that they usually win by kicking him. He could be a GenreRefugee, but several of his throwaway lines make it clear he collects 'statuettes' and reads a lot of manga.

* This trope is the major plot-driver in ''Film/DonJuanDemarco''. A young man (played by Creator/JohnnyDepp) who's seriously dissatisfied with his life takes on a new persona, based on Lord Byron's version of legendary seducer ''Literature/DonJuan''. So thoroughly does he immerse himself in this wonderful new reality, he's nearly committed to a mental hospital.

* Quentin Coldwater in ''Literature/TheMagicians'' dreams of traveling to the land of Fillory, from the ''Fillory and Further'' series by Christopher Plover (essentially a [[LawyerFriendlyCameo transparent pastiche]] of ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'' and C.S. Lewis). [[spoiler: Eventually, he succeeds.]]

* A lot of hardcore Creator/{{Disney}} fans have a similar mindset to the above, which isn't surprising given [[Creator/WaltDisney Walt Disney's]] stated goal of trying to reach the inner "innocence" of audiences. This can be particularly tear-jerking when it comes to children. In fact, over 40% of wishes granted to heavily ill kids by the Make-a-Wish foundation [[https://tipsforfamilytrips.com/florida/disney-world-make-a-wish/ are Disney related]]. When it comes to struggling children (and adults) who dream about living in {{Disney/Zootopia}}, hanging out with [[Franchise/ToyStory Buzz, Woody, and the gang]], exploring the [[Franchise/WinnieThePooh Hundred-Acre Wood]], and the like after their troubles are finally over, it's hard to say 'no' to them.

* Jetlag Travel Guides essentially do the opposite

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': In the episode "A Stop at Willoughby", harried ad executive Gart Williams starts having dreams of a very slow-paced, Tom Sawyer-style late 1800s Midwestern American era town. He starts longing to be in the Willoughby town. By the end, he gets his wish at [[spoiler:Willoughby Funeral Home]].

* ''Comicbook/AstroCity'': When the [[Literature/AliceInWonderland Mock Turtle]] was a child, he always was trapped in wardrobes. Everyone thought he was an idiot. But he was trying to find a portal to [[Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia Narnia]]. If he could find [[Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz a twister]] or [[Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland a rabbit hole]], he would have tried that too. As an adult, when fleeing from enemies that want to kill him, alone and broken, [[Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz he happened to be in Kansas, and saw a twister. That gave him hope]]. So he got to Astro City, where the superhuman community defeated his enemies and welcomed him. So he went to the roof of a building, [[Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz put on his green visor, and all Astro City looked like an Emerald City.]]

* Arguably true in the ''Series/TwilightZone'' episode "A Stop at Willoughby", harried ad executive Gart Williams starts having dreams of a very slow-paced, Tom Sawyer-style late 1800s Midwestern American era town. He starts longing to be in the Willoughby town. By the end, he gets his wish at [[spoiler:Willoughby Funeral Home]].

When a fictional character gets his wish, see IWishItWereReal. Because, you know, ThisIsReality. May lead to an AntiEscapismAesop.

* There have been a few reports of people experiencing depression after seeing the beautiful world of ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' and then having to return to the real world.
** [[OneOfUs Jennifer Lawrence]], in one interview, talks about an incident where she and Josh Hutcherson were hanging out in his hotel room and had a freak out over how unfair it is that they'll never get to visit Pandora.

* "Silent Lucidity", a {{Power Ballad}} by American ProgressiveMetal group Music/Queensryche, centers around this. The lyrics are explicitly about [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/lucid_dreaming lucid dreaming]] and describe it as a psychological refuge, a fantasy realm set up for the "soul set free to fly". The band's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhat-xUQ6dw official music video]] (which won the MTV Viewer's Choice Award) doubles down on these themes.

* ''Film/BridgeToTerabithia'': The main two characters create a fictional world called Terabithia to deal with their school troubles. They are aware that it is a fantasy and wish it were real, although this doesn't stop them for having fun.

** "Human in Equestria" (HiE) fan fics are ''extremely'' popular for this reason. Although the sheer number of these fics track in blatant WishFulfillment, particularly those with romantic elements to them, these stories have spawned a great number of spin-offs from dark {{deconstruction}}s to [[PlayedForLaughs silly parodies]] and more.

** Several fics by popular fan-author GaliGee poke fun at this trope by having all the characters being real and merely starring as themselves in the series. Her AuthorAvatar is taken back and forth from the Bionicle world several times by Teridax, who makes good and frequent use of LEGO's secret gateway in Denmark.
* The plot "Yukari brings an outsider to Gensokyo" present in many ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' is also popular because of this.

* ''Film/TonyManero'' plays this as dark as you can get, centering around a creepily obsessed Chilean fan of ''Film/SaturdayNightFever'' (and, specifically, [[Creator/JohnTravolta John Travolta's]] fictional character).

* Arguably true in the ''Series/TwilightZone'' episode "A Stop at Willoughby", harried ad executive Gart Williams starts having dreams of a very slow-paced, Tom Sawyer-style late 1800s Midwestern American era town. He starts longing to be in the Willoughby town. By the end, he gets his wish at [[spoiler:Willoughby Funeral Home]]

* "Silent Lucidity", a {{Power Ballad}} by American {{Progressive Metal}} group Music/Queensryche, centers around this. The lyrics are explicitly about [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/lucid_dreaming lucid dreaming]] and describe it as a psychological refuge, a fantasy realm set up for the "soul set free to fly". The band's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhat-xUQ6dw official music video]] (which won the MTV Viewer's Choice Award) doubles down on these themes.

* An Wiki/SCPFoundation researcher working on an SCP that produced an extensive fantasy world in the sleeping user committed suicide on waking up. Having spent 200 years inside, he just couldn't return to real life. In a subversion of the usual Foundation-contained EldritchAbomination, the entity of the fantasy-making book had a ''massive'' MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment, and went into such a debilitating HeroicBSOD that it refused to even communicate for ''weeks''. When it finally "wrote" something on the pages, [[{{Tearjerker}} all it could say was]] "[[WellIntentionedExtremist I'm so sorry. I never intended for this to happen. I just wanted to make people happy...]]" ''[[{{Tearjerker}} on every single page, while the book was soaked with tears]]''.

-->''Fiction taught me how to feel.''//